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    Dollywood combines four rides into one with NightFlight Expedition
    • April 17, 2026

    A new first-of-its-kind attraction coming to Dollywood will take riders into the Smoky Mountains on a soaring nighttime flight that turns into a roller coaster ride and then a whitewater rafting excursion before concluding with a mysterious dark ride across a shimmering lake.

    The new NightFlight Expedition attraction will debut in spring 2026 in Dollywood’s Wildwood Grove themed land in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

    “A lot of people ask me about my favorite season in the Smokies, but no one ever asks me what my favorite time of day is,” Dollywood co-owner Dolly Parton said in a statement. “Our new ride sends you out into the mountains at night, which is the time that I think they really come to life.”

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    The $50 million NightFlight Expedition marks the largest single attraction investment in Dollywood’s history.

    Concept art of the $50 million NightFlight Expedition attraction in Dollywood's Wildwood Grove themed land in Tennessee. (Courtesy of Dollywood)
    Concept art of the $50 million NightFlight Expedition attraction in Dollywood’s Wildwood Grove themed land in Tennessee. (Courtesy of Dollywood)

    The world’s first indoor roller coaster/whitewater river rapids ride hybrid attraction will be built by Germany-based Mack Rides.The word “indoor” makes the Dollywood ride a “world’s first” attraction.

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    NightFlight Expedition will be the first Mack Rides Rocking Boat Ride in the United States.

    Mack Rides won a 2025 Amusement Today Golden Ticket award for the Mission Bermuda ride at the Futuroscope theme park in France that marked the first installation of the Rocking Boat Ride system.

    The NightFlight Expedition attraction ride vehilce coming to Dollywood's Wildwood Grove themed land in Tennessee. (Courtesy of Dollywood)
    The NightFlight Expedition attraction ride vehilce coming to Dollywood’s Wildwood Grove themed land in Tennessee. (Courtesy of Dollywood)

    NightFlight Expedition will be housed inside a 44,000-square foot building the size of four football fields that will allow Dollywood to expand its winter holiday season.

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    The four-rides-in-one attraction will include a nighttime flight over the Smoky Mountains, rafting excursion through whitewater rapids, roller coaster ride around mountain peaks and boat ride across a luminescent lake.

    The five-minute indoor ride will feature multimedia projections and lighting effects.

    Concept art of the $50 million NightFlight Expedition attraction in Dollywood's Wildwood Grove themed land in Tennessee. (Courtesy of Dollywood)
    Concept art of the $50 million NightFlight Expedition attraction in Dollywood’s Wildwood Grove themed land in Tennessee. (Courtesy of Dollywood)

    Riders will reach a top speed of 29 mph and splash through 500,000 gallons of water along the 1,250-foot-long track.

    The NightFlight Expedition and Mission Bermuda attractions are not classified as roller coasters by Roller Coaster Database.

    The backstory for the Smoky Mountain adventure follows twins Cora and Jasper Oakley as they set out to discover the mystery of the Secret Lake and the source of the colorful glowing canopy on the Wildwood Tree.

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    The pair have invented a Bioluminator that detects and amplifies bioluminescence — the biochemical emission of light by living organisms.

    After mounting the Bioluminator to their amphibious aircraft, Cora and Jasper follow the glowing bioluminescent trail from the Wildwood Tree to the Secret Lake in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

     Orange County Register 

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